Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross

"Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross" is a traditional English nursery rhyme with a history stretching back to at least the 18th century, strongly linked to the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. The earliest surviving version beginning with "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross" appeared in "Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book" around 1744, featuring "Tommy" going to buy baked goods, while the version closer to the modern rhyme featuring a lady was first published in "Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus" in 1784. Interestingly, the 1784 version depicted an "old woman" rather than the "fine lady" known today, with "rings on her fingers and bells at her toes," while the "fine lady" wording appeared in a 1788 American publication. A "cock-horse" can refer to several things: a child's toy hobby horse, an adult's foot or knee used for pretend horse rides, a high-spirited horse, or historically, an additional horse used to help pull a carriage up a hill. Banbury Cross refers to one of several medieval crosses that existed in the town, three of which (the High Cross, White Cross, and Bread Cross) were destroyed by Puritans around 1600, with the present-day Banbury Cross erected in 1859 to commemorate Queen Victoria's eldest daughter's marriage. The identity of the "fine lady" remains a mystery, with theories ranging from a May Queen in medieval spring fertility celebrations (the most plausible theory, with the rings and bells symbolizing musical accompaniment and decorations) to Lady Godiva, Queen Elizabeth I, or even Celia Fiennes (1662-1741), a notable female travel writer who journeyed across England on horseback. In 2005, a bronze statue titled "The Fine Lady upon a White Horse" was unveiled near the cross, depicting the lady as a May Queen.